One month into the season, we have a pretty good idea what the Jets defense is: The strength of the team and among the NFL’s best.
They rank No. 3 in overall defense — No. 12 against the run and No. 2 against the pass — and they’ve given up the least points per game.
But, as the Jets chill out during their bye this week basking in a 3-1 start, they need to figure out how they can keep the two most important cogs to their offense healthy and upright for the final 12 games.
Running back Chris Ivory is the engine to the Jets’ offense and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is the driver. And the Jets can ill afford to lose either to a sustained injury.
We’ve already had a good look at how poorly they function without Ivory. You need only to refer to their loss to the Eagles — their only setback of the season — to see proof of that.
As for Fitzpatrick, yes, he’s not a star, yes, he’s not going to challenge Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers for the league passing title, and yes, he’s on his fifth team in eight years — and there’s a reason for that.
Fitzpatrick has his warts. Who doesn’t? There always is going to be a “but’’ in every conversation about Fitzpatrick (“He’s smart, but he has a below-average arm,’’ etc.).
A perfect example of this came on the Jets’ first offensive play against the Dolphins on Sunday when Fitzpatrick completed a 58-yard pass to Brandon Marshall. It was great to see the Jets get aggressive early and let Fitzpatrick air one out, but he underthrew Marshall, preventing him from catching it in stride and scoring.
Here’s the thing about Fitzpatrick, though: He has been at least close to everything the Jets wanted him to be when they acquired him — a steady veteran presence who can be trusted. Fitzpatrick actually is the fallback quarterback Rex Ryan always needed as he tried to negotiate his way through all of the Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith turnovers.
Fitzpatrick has, on occasion in is career, shown a tendency to fade late in the season. Of course, it’s not all on him, but for example, after leading the Bills to a 5-2 start in 2011 they lost eight of their last nine. Last season, after he helped Houston to a 3-1 start, the Texans went 3-5 in his last eight starts before he was injured.
Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, who was Fitzpatrick’s head coach in Buffalo, is aware of the trend and doing whatever he can to prevent it from happening this fall.
“I know why it happened,’’ Gailey said. “As long as we can keep him upright and not taking a bunch of hits I think he’ll be just fine for the long haul. [It’s] just taking hits. If we can take the hits off of him, he’ll be fine.’’
The Jets’ offensive line, which has gotten off to a sound start, has done a good job of protecting Fitzpatrick, who has been sacked only twice. The worry sometimes is what Fitzpatrick might do to himself when he takes off and runs, which happens to be a strength of his. So that’s a double-edged sword.
“I think the guys up front have done a great job so far,’’ Fitzpatrick said.
At least as critical to keeping Fitzpatrick healthy is making sure Ivory is on the field every week. Through four weeks, he already has missed one game because of a quadriceps injury and the week before that his status was in question because of another leg ailment.
On Sunday, Ivory ran the ball 29 times for a career-high 166 yards against the Dolphins. The best thing to happen to him all season probably was the bye coming this week so he can rest his legs. But beginning next Sunday, there are no more bye-week breaks.
“It’s a long haul,’’ Jets coach Todd Bowles said. “After [the bye week] we have 12 straight [games], so we’re going to monitor [his touches] and make sure that he’s getting his work in. We’re still giving him some breaks in between, here and there. We’ve got to make sure he stays healthy.’’
Ivory has only one gear when he explodes out of the backfield. He runs with such a violent style, he can be prone to injuries. He missed more time because of injuries than he played when he was with the Saints from 2010-2012. But he has missed only two of 35 games as a Jet.
“He’s a tough runner,’’ Bowles said. “That’s who he is. You’re not going to take that away from him. He takes care of his body and hopefully we can just keep him healthy. But, you don’t worry about how he runs.’’
That’s better left for opposing defenses to worry about.
@MarkCannizzaro
They rank No. 3 in overall defense — No. 12 against the run and No. 2 against the pass — and they’ve given up the least points per game.
But, as the Jets chill out during their bye this week basking in a 3-1 start, they need to figure out how they can keep the two most important cogs to their offense healthy and upright for the final 12 games.
Running back Chris Ivory is the engine to the Jets’ offense and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is the driver. And the Jets can ill afford to lose either to a sustained injury.
We’ve already had a good look at how poorly they function without Ivory. You need only to refer to their loss to the Eagles — their only setback of the season — to see proof of that.
As for Fitzpatrick, yes, he’s not a star, yes, he’s not going to challenge Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers for the league passing title, and yes, he’s on his fifth team in eight years — and there’s a reason for that.
Fitzpatrick has his warts. Who doesn’t? There always is going to be a “but’’ in every conversation about Fitzpatrick (“He’s smart, but he has a below-average arm,’’ etc.).
A perfect example of this came on the Jets’ first offensive play against the Dolphins on Sunday when Fitzpatrick completed a 58-yard pass to Brandon Marshall. It was great to see the Jets get aggressive early and let Fitzpatrick air one out, but he underthrew Marshall, preventing him from catching it in stride and scoring.
Here’s the thing about Fitzpatrick, though: He has been at least close to everything the Jets wanted him to be when they acquired him — a steady veteran presence who can be trusted. Fitzpatrick actually is the fallback quarterback Rex Ryan always needed as he tried to negotiate his way through all of the Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith turnovers.
Fitzpatrick has, on occasion in is career, shown a tendency to fade late in the season. Of course, it’s not all on him, but for example, after leading the Bills to a 5-2 start in 2011 they lost eight of their last nine. Last season, after he helped Houston to a 3-1 start, the Texans went 3-5 in his last eight starts before he was injured.
Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, who was Fitzpatrick’s head coach in Buffalo, is aware of the trend and doing whatever he can to prevent it from happening this fall.
“I know why it happened,’’ Gailey said. “As long as we can keep him upright and not taking a bunch of hits I think he’ll be just fine for the long haul. [It’s] just taking hits. If we can take the hits off of him, he’ll be fine.’’
The Jets’ offensive line, which has gotten off to a sound start, has done a good job of protecting Fitzpatrick, who has been sacked only twice. The worry sometimes is what Fitzpatrick might do to himself when he takes off and runs, which happens to be a strength of his. So that’s a double-edged sword.
“I think the guys up front have done a great job so far,’’ Fitzpatrick said.
At least as critical to keeping Fitzpatrick healthy is making sure Ivory is on the field every week. Through four weeks, he already has missed one game because of a quadriceps injury and the week before that his status was in question because of another leg ailment.
On Sunday, Ivory ran the ball 29 times for a career-high 166 yards against the Dolphins. The best thing to happen to him all season probably was the bye coming this week so he can rest his legs. But beginning next Sunday, there are no more bye-week breaks.
“It’s a long haul,’’ Jets coach Todd Bowles said. “After [the bye week] we have 12 straight [games], so we’re going to monitor [his touches] and make sure that he’s getting his work in. We’re still giving him some breaks in between, here and there. We’ve got to make sure he stays healthy.’’
Ivory has only one gear when he explodes out of the backfield. He runs with such a violent style, he can be prone to injuries. He missed more time because of injuries than he played when he was with the Saints from 2010-2012. But he has missed only two of 35 games as a Jet.
“He’s a tough runner,’’ Bowles said. “That’s who he is. You’re not going to take that away from him. He takes care of his body and hopefully we can just keep him healthy. But, you don’t worry about how he runs.’’
That’s better left for opposing defenses to worry about.
@MarkCannizzaro
